


The Huntress

by thewishingdragon



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Chandler's mom means well but makes poor choices, Duke is a regular human, F/F, Medium Mac, Monster Hunter AU, Monster Hunter Chandler, Monster Hunter JD, Shapeshifter Betty, Werewolf Veronica, Witch Martha, also Chandler has a loving parent, which is good bc she needs one to help her through this shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-12 16:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15999476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewishingdragon/pseuds/thewishingdragon
Summary: “God, Veronica, don’t be weird. If you keep staring off into the distance like that, people are going to think something’s wrong with you.”Veronica hardly reacted, although she did stop looking around like she was expecting to be attacked any second. “Sorry. Something just feels… off, today.”





	1. Chapter 1

Veronica was acting weird.

Sure, having been a loser until very recently, it was expected that she’d slip up at least once or twice until she adjusted to being popular, but this was a different kind of weird.

She seemed to be more... aware, in a way. Her eyes were constantly following every bit of movement around her, watchful and vigilant. She seemed to hear things the Heathers couldn’t, from the sounds of someone whispering in the hallway to the sound of someone making a joke at their expense from across the cafeteria. Her sense of smell seemed sharper than theirs, too. She was bothered by anything that smelled too strongly, whether the scent was usually pleasant or not.

Her behavior was the strangest thing of all, though. She seemed to act almost beastlike. The Heathers weren’t sure how else to describe it. Every now and then, if she saw someone she didn’t like, like Kurt or Ram, she’d snarl and growl before realizing where she was and correcting it.

At the moment, she was sitting with them at the lunch table, back straight, eyes wide and searching as if there was anything interesting to see from where she was sitting.

Chandler felt an odd surge of unease at the sight. Something in her gut told her that whatever had Veronica looking so stiff couldn’t possibly be good. She briefly wondered why seeing Veronica on edge scared her, before pushing the thought down and adopting an air of aloofness.

“God, Veronica, don’t be weird. If you keep staring off into the distance like that, people are going to think something’s wrong with you.”

Veronica hardly reacted, although she did stop looking around like she was expecting to be attacked any second. “Sorry. Something just feels… off, today.”

Duke frowned. “Off how?”

Veronica’s eyes darted from side to side, almost as though she was looking for something, and, finding nothing, Chandler watched Veronica’s shoulders sag slightly in what she thought could have been either relief or disappointment.

“It could be nothing,” she said, “I might just be more wound up than usual. I’m used to jogging in the mornings, but I haven’t had time lately, so I’ve got a little too much nervous energy.”

Duke seemed to buy it, but Chandler was still suspicious. Call her crazy, but some instinct of hers kept pushing, practically clawing, at the back of her mind, telling her that Veronica was right, that something bad was coming.

“It’s like the air is different,” Mac said suddenly, her voice having an odd hollow quality to it that Chandler and Duke had gotten used to over the years, “Like something is about to happen. Something important.” Mac met Chandler’s eyes then, her expression full of something that Chandler couldn’t name, something that she knew on some level was meant for her.

Veronica nodded. “I think… maybe I’m gonna stay home tonight instead of going to that party.”

Chandler tore her gaze away from Mac, indignant at the thought of Veronica ditching them for who knows what. “Why? Not like you have anything better to do at home.”

Veronica didn’t react, eyes now focused on some point in the distance. “Like Heather said, it feels like something important is going to happen. I want to investigate.”

Chandler scoffed. “There’s nothing to investigate. You’re wasting your time looking for something that might not exist because of what? Some weird gut feeling?”

Veronica nodded. “You feel it too, don’t you? It’s like a pull. If I follow it, I’ll find something. I always do.”

Chandler ignored the urge to agree with her. She didn’t want Veronica to be away from them. A part of her wanted the four of them all together. _Safety in numbers,_ she thought, wondering why she felt like they needed to be safe from anything. Still, part of her wanted Veronica to stay with her, hopefully far away from that pull Chandler felt. It was a pull towards danger, towards something she didn’t trust, and she wanted Veronica to stay away from it.

She opened her mouth to speak, to offer some sort of rebuttal, but Mac beat her to the punch. “It feels… bad.”

Duke regarded the others at the table curiously. “What does?”

Mac didn’t answer. “It’s dangerous. You shouldn’t go to it.”

Veronica shook her head, and Chandler noted that she looked determined, almost eager to follow the pull now.

“I know it’s dangerous. That’s why I have to see what I find.”

“That makes no sense!” Chandler snapped, an irrational surge of fear gripping her heart, “Why the hell would you go towards something if you know it’s dangerous?!”

Veronica turned to meet her eyes then, imploring her to understand, as though this was something Chandler already knew the answer to.

“Because, if I don’t go towards it, then someone else will, and I don’t want to risk that.”

* * *

 Chandler leaned against the wall, drink in hand, scowling at nothing.

In the end, Veronica had ditched them, opting to investigate something that, for all she knew, could get her killed. For some reason, Chandler felt the urge to go after her, to help her deal with whatever was coming to them.

Them. That’s another thing. She felt inexplicably bound to Veronica somehow, a different pull, just as strong as the one she urged Veronica to stay away from. This one felt different, though. Warm. Safe. Like she knew, instinctively, that she needed to be around Veronica.

She took a sip of her drink and grimaced. “Ugh, who taught Ram to mix drinks?” She took her cup to the kitchen and dumped it in the sink, before throwing the disposable cup in the trash.

There weren’t as many people here as there usually were. This party was more of a warm up for the homecoming party later that month. A dry run, so to speak. Practice for the real thing. People stood or sat in small groups, talking, drinks in hand, enjoying themselves. Chandler couldn’t help the feeling that her time was being wasted here.

“Go.”

The sudden sound of Mac’s voice made her jump. She looked around quickly, making sure nobody saw that, before turning her attention back to Mac. “Go?”

Mac nodded, and Chandler saw that that distant look from earlier had returned. “Whatever is supposed to happen, it involves you. Go on, I’ll cover for you. I’ll tell Heather that you went home with someone, or something.”

Chandler nodded, suddenly sure that she had to go find Veronica, and left the house, rushing to her car without another thought.

She drove quickly, turning down side streets without knowing where she was or where she was going, but still certain that she was headed in the right direction. Finally, she came to a stop in front of a small warehouse, the pull almost overwhelming Chandler with the need to go inside. Something was going to happen in there, and whatever it was, Chandler was meant to be in there when it did. She stood and walked from her car, and noticed the chains on the ground. It made sense that the warehouse would be locked up. If Chandler wasn’t mistaken, it had been abandoned for years now. It didn’t seem unusual that someone would break the chains to go inside, given how little there was to do in Sherwood besides drinking and apparently vandalizing warehouses. What was unusual was the way the chains had been broken. The lock looked like it had been blown up, and the chains had gouges on them from what she thought could have been a blade of some sort, although her mind insisted that they were claw marks.

She debated going inside. Whatever was in the warehouse couldn’t be good, and Chandler valued her life. As soon as she thought about going home, she felt that pull again, stronger, almost desperate. She pushed the gate open and walked up to the entrance, sure that she had to go inside, sure that something bad would happen if she didn’t.

She had expected to see lots of things when she went inside. She expected vandals, stoners, maybe some homeless people, but she hadn’t expected to see Veronica standing in the middle of the open warehouse, brandishing a knife and looking like she expected something to come swooping down from above.

At the sound of the door opening, she jolted, turning to find the source, and when her eyes landed on Chandler, she relaxed minutely, eyes wide and disbelieving.

“What are you doing here?”

Chandler rolled her eyes. “I could ask you the same thing,” she said, “You’re in an abandoned warehouse, alone, and you’re holding a knife.”

Veronica opened her mouth to answer, only to be knocked back by something literally flying into her.

Veronica flew back, the knife skittering across the floor and stopping at Chandler’s feet. Veronica regained her footing and dropped into a defensive stance, rushing at the thing without hesitation. Chandler picked up the knife, planning to return it, but the moment she touched it, she realized it wasn’t a knife at all.

“A wooden stake?” Chandler looked up at the scuffle in front of her and started when she saw empty, inky black eyes staring at her with an intensity that frankly frightened her.

Veronica growled. “Heather! Don’t just stand there! Help me!”

At that, Chandler ran into the fray, jabbing at the thing- she was sure now that it was a vampire, even though it couldn’t possibly be- only for it to dodge and roll away from her.

She looked down at Veronica. “Are you okay?”

Veronica groaned. “I honestly liked this outfit,” she said, “But it doesn’t look like I’ll have time to get out of it.”

“What do you-”

Before Chandler could finish her question, she heard a snapping sound, then another, and another. At first, she didn’t realize what was happening, why the word _transformation_ kept echoing through her head. Then it hit her.

_Transformation. Her bones are rearranging themselves._

It was sickening to hear. With every snap and pop as Veronica changed, Chandler’s stomach gave a small lurch. She looked away until it stopped, and when she looked back, there was a large brown wolf where Veronica had stood, and her outfit lay in a torn heap on the concrete floor.

“Werewolf,” the vampire hissed, “Bringing a hunter to my door. Tattletale.”

Chandler didn’t have time to think before the vampire was rushing towards her, mouth open wide to expose needle-sharp teeth. She raised the stake to defend herself, only to watch the vampire fall to the ground in a heap beneath the weight of Veronica’s large form. She tore at the vampire, claws ripping its face and torso, causing the vampire to reel back, in pain or rage, Chandler didn’t know. All she knew was that Veronica was in danger.

With that thought running through her head, she darted forwards, pushing the stake into the vampire’s chest without a second thought and watching its eyes dull as it went still.

Chandler panted, wincing as Veronica’s claws tore into the vampire’s neck, tearing the head off. Veronica grabbed it by the hair and picked it up, trotting over to Chandler.

“Right,” she huffed, “We’ve got to burn that, don’t we?”

Veronica gave the best approximation of a nod that she could in this form, and Chandler followed as Veronica walked out of the warehouse and towards Chandler’s car.

Chandler tried not to think about what had just happened, what she had just done, but it wouldn’t leave her mind. Every time she blinked, it just kept replaying behind her eyelids.

They stopped at Chandler’s car, and Veronica didn’t wait for Chandler to open any of the doors to the convertible, instead opting to just jump in. She looked up at Chandler and sat down, waiting for her to get in and drive them… where, exactly?

“...Your house or mine?”

Veronica didn’t seem to care either way.

“Mine it is, then.”

Without another word, she started the car and they left the warehouse parking lot. Chandler worried she’d be lost, but somehow she took all the right turns, and they ended up back at Chandler’s house within the hour.

Veronica waited until Chandler opened the passenger side door before jumping out of the car, her stride purposeful as she walked around to the side of the house.

Right. There was a fire pit on the back porch.

Chandler followed, distantly wondering how Veronica knew the layout of her property, and opened the gate for her.

Veronica made a beeline for the fire pit and dropped the vampire’s head in it, then turned to Chandler.

Chandler nodded and gathered some kindling and a firestarter, before pulling a lighter out of the pocket of her blazer and lighting the kindling. Once the fire was going, Chandler sat back in one of the chairs scattered around the porch and watched.

The vampire’s head burned in the fire pit, a disgusting smell wafting through the air, and Chandler nearly gagged as the reality of the situation settled around her.

“Oh my god.”

Veronica regarded her curiously.

“You-you’re a werewolf,” Chandler said, words coming out in a rush, “That… that was a vampire. I killed a vampire. I killed a vampire that used to be a _person._ ”

Veronica stood and walked over to her, laying her head on Chandler’s thigh and looking up at her sympathetically.

The soft warmth of Veronica’s fur was oddly comforting, and Chandler found herself slowly petting the top of Veronica’s head, nerves easing ever so slightly.

“Okay, so… what do I do now?”

Veronica said nothing.

“Right,” Chandler sighed, “You can’t talk. Not like this, at least.”

She continued to absentmindedly pet Veronica, scratching behind her ears every so often.

“Do you want to stick around for the night?” Chandler asked, “Just to make sure we really killed it?”

Veronica nodded.

They stayed like that until the fire died, with Chandler stroking Veronica’s fur and watching the fire, and Veronica offering comfort the only way she could in this form, before they got up and went inside.

Chandler leaned against her bedroom door with a relieved sigh, glad that the events of the night were over with. She rooted through her dresser for a set of pajamas and went into the bathroom to change, and when she came out, she found Veronica curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed.

Slowly, Chandler peeled back the covers and slipped into the bed. She tried not to disturb Veronica, but quickly found that she wasn’t asleep at all.

“C’mere,” Chandler muttered, pulling Veronica closer, “I don’t want to risk kicking you off.”

Veronica didn’t look convinced, but she allowed Chandler to pull her in close, cuddling up against her chest and closing her eyes, glad when she heard Chandler’s breathing even out as she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Heather woke to the sound of Veronica’s transformation. Grimacing, she pressed a pillow over her ears to muffle the sounds of bones breaking and repositioning themselves.

Eventually, the noise settled down, and Heather felt a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you alright?”

“Fine,” Heather grunted, “The sound is just…”

“Yeah,” Veronica agreed, “It took a while to get used to.”

Remembering the events of the night before, Heather sat up. “You’re a werewolf.”

“Yup.”

“How long have you been a werewolf?”

“I was born one.”

“Your parents are werewolves?!”

Veronica seemed confused. “Heather, didn’t your mom tell you about this stuff?”

Heather eyed her incredulously. “Why would my mother tell me about this?!”

As if on cue, Mrs. Chandler chose that moment to open Heather’s bedroom door. “Heather? I heard you talking to someone in here. Is everything al-”

Veronica waved. “Hi, Mrs. Chandler.”

Heather’s mother froze.

Heather looked between Veronica and her mother. “You two know each other?”

Veronica nodded. “She and my mom were partners.”

“Partners?”

Her mother sighed. “I never wanted you to find out about this.”

“Find out about what?!” Heather demanded, “You haven’t actually _told_ me anything!”

Veronica frowned. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I wanted her safe.”

Heather growled. “What aren’t you telling me?!”

Veronica put a hand on Heather’s shoulder, the gentle touch immediately soothing Chandler’s irritation.

“Heather,” her tone was gentle, patient, “You’re a hunter.”

Heather rested her head against Veronica’s shoulder. “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” her mother said, “That you’re a monster hunter. I was one, your grandmother was one, it runs in our blood.”

Veronica nodded. “Your bloodline has been protecting this town since it was founded. Our families have been working side by side for generations to keep the humans in Sherwood safe from the monsters that would hurt them.”

Heather huffed. “And let me guess. Now that I know what’s going on, I have to help out.”

Mrs. Chandler frowned. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you, Heather. You deserved to be safe from all of this.”

“You could have let her choose that for herself,” Veronica said, “Maybe if you had, she’d have been more equipped to deal with that vampire.”

“Vampire?!”

After that, the conversation quickly ran downhill. Heather’s mother was unusually evasive, and Heather was getting more and more frustrated. Finally, her mother gave up and went back downstairs, and Heather found some oversized clothes that Veronica could probably wear.

Veronica walked out of the bathroom in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, both of which fit her nicely, and frowned at Heather’s bedroom door as if it had personally wronged her. “I thought your mother would have told you.”

Heather shrugged. “Seems like you’re the only one who’s giving me any straight answers today.”

Veronica hummed and walked over to the bed, perching on the edge. “Well then, since your mother probably won’t give you the answers you want, how about you ask _me_ your questions? I’ll answer as honestly as I can. Promise.”

Heather leaned back against the pillows and thought for a second. “Alright. What’s all this monster hunter stuff? Why do our families work together? Does anyone else know? Why did my mom try so hard to keep me from finding out?”

Veronica held up a hand to stop Heather from saying any more. “Alright, alright, I can only answer so many questions at once! Simply put, monster hunters are humans with a certain amount of magical power that allows them more strength and dexterity than what normal humans usually have, and they’ve historically used that power to protect ordinary humans from hostile monsters. Your bloodline is particularly strong, if I remember correctly.”

Heather scoffed. “I’m not strong.”

“You haven’t had any training. With a little time and some patience, you’d be a great hunter. As for our families, all I know is the story I was told.” Veronica ran a hand through her hair and moved further onto the bed. “Basically, there are certain hunter bloodlines that dedicate themselves to the complete eradication of all monsters and supernatural beings, even the ones that aren’t a threat. My family was being hunted by one of those groups of hunters, and they ended up here. A member of your family found them and offered them protection if they promised to aid your family in protecting Sherwood. They agreed, and now our families work side by side to protect the people of this town.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Veronica shrugged. “I mean, yeah. My parents made sure I knew what I was and what I was expected to do. Although, I do have a way out if I ever want it. My family’s big, and there are a lot of other wolves who can take my place protecting this town if I decide to leave.”

Heather huffed. “That’s not going to work for me. I don’t have any relatives to take my place.”

Veronica thought for a second, before flopping across Heather’s lap. “You may not have any hunters to take your place, but you’ve got me. I’ll help you figure stuff out if you want. We can train together, too! Your mom taught me hand-to-hand combat as part of my training in case I couldn’t transform, so I could teach you how to fight!”

Heather felt an urge to push Veronica off of her, but found that she actually liked having her there. “Sure. If I’m going to be a hunter, I might as well learn how to not suck at it.”

Veronica chuckled. “You handled that vampire pretty well considering you didn’t even know you were a hunter.”

“That reminds me,” Heather said, “Why didn’t my mom tell me anything? Shouldn’t I have been told?”

Veronica looked away, eyes glued to Heather’s door. “Your powers are only just awakening. She never wanted them to. As long as you didn’t know, you’d be the same as an ordinary human.”

“So what’s going to happen now that they’re awakening?”

Veronica shrugged. “I don’t actually know. It’s different for everyone. For werewolves, you start transforming as soon as your body’s strong enough to handle it, which is around puberty, so it’s important to tell a pup what they are before then, so they know how to keep themselves under control. I don’t know as much about hunters, unfortunately.”

“Does anyone else know about this? About you?”

Veronica nodded. “Officer Duke knows about my family, but not yours. Martha and Betty know about both of our families, and the McNamaras… I’m honestly unclear on how much they know.”

“Why would Heather’s family know anything?”

“They’re mediums,” Veronica said, “They speak with the dead. They probably know about both of our families, but I’m not sure what Heather knows. It’s entirely possible that her parents are keeping her in the dark, too, so her powers might still be dormant.”

“Is that why she sensed that something was supposed to happen yesterday?”

“Probably,” Veronica looked up at her, “It’s not uncommon for humans with latent magic to still feel their connection to the supernatural, even if they aren’t aware of it.”

“I sensed it, too,” Heather admitted.

“I know. You wouldn’t have come for me if you didn’t.”

“So why…” Heather tried to find the right words. “Why are you able to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make me feel better?” Heather felt frustration rising in her gut, only to find it slowly abating as Veronica wrapped her arms around her waist. “Like that! How are you able to calm me down just by touching me?”

Veronica giggled, and Heather felt her heart flutter in her chest at the sound. “We’re bound to each other, Heather. I sense when you’re in distress, and I use my own emotions to influence yours. You’ll be able to do the same with some practice. We’re meant to look out for each other, and part of that is making sure we’re both in a place mentally and emotionally that we can do our jobs.”

Heather felt oddly nervous at the idea of Veronica knowing exactly what she was feeling.

“Don’t worry, I only tune into your emotions when your body language hints that you’re upset.” Veronica smiled at her reassuringly, and Heather felt herself relax.

“How can I do that?”

“Well, if the emotion’s strong enough, you should be able to sense it without having to do too much. You just have to focus on it if you notice a feeling that’s out of place, and you should be able to sense me if I’m the one feeling it. Then, if you want to influence my mood, you’ve just got to focus on that.”

“That sounds easy.”

Veronica laughed. “It sounds like it, but it’s not. It took me a lot of practice to be able to sense you, and I’ve only ever tried influencing you from a distance before I started hanging out with you, Heather, and Heather.”

“You tried to mess with my mood before?”

Veronica nodded. “Mostly just when I noticed you were upset. Sometimes, though, I’d get this weird sense of loneliness, and if I focused on it, I’d be able to sense you.”

Heather shifted uncomfortably, and Veronica sat up, leaning against her side and holding her close.

“Don’t worry, I’m not judging, and I won’t tell anyone about it without your permission. I just… I wanted to make sure you weren’t alone.”

Heather leaned into the contact, resting her head against Veronica’s shoulder. “Thanks. For looking out for me all those years.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” Veronica muttered, “Besides, you’re important to me, and a wolf protects the ones they care about.”

For the first time since she found out about all this monster hunter stuff, Heather thought it might not be all that bad.

* * *

 Chandler groaned. Being a monster hunter was the worst.

Over the past week, she’d had to cancel her plans for parties, dates, even just evenings hanging out with Mac and Duke, all for her training. Veronica was doing her best to help Chandler adjust, but the truth of the matter was that she was used to it. Chandler wasn’t.

“C’mon! You’ve got to be faster than that if you want to win!” They were in the middle of a hand-to-hand training exercise, and while Veronica was probably doing her best to make this easy for her, Chandler’s patience was wearing thin.

“I can’t believe this shit,” Chandler grumbled as she dodged another kick, “I could be at a party right now, and instead I’m in my backyard fighting with an overgrown lapdog!”

Veronica growled, “If you don’t watch your mouth, this _overgrown lapdog_ is gonna kick your ass.”

“You’re already kicking my ass!”

“Then I’ll kick it harder!”

Chandler scowled, her movements getting sloppy as her frustration rose, until she found herself flat on her back, pinned beneath Veronica with her wrists held against the ground by Veronica’s own toned arms.

“Do you yield?” Veronica asked, a low growl present in her voice that made Chandler’s cheeks flush in a way that couldn't be blamed on the physical exertion.

“Yes.”

Veronica climbed off her and rose to her feet, offering a hand to help Chandler up. “You lasted longer this time. That’s good. You’re improving fast.”

Chandler groaned as she let Veronica help her up. “Can we stop for the night? I’m tired and sore, and not in a good way.”

Veronica snickered at the innuendo. “Sure. We’ve done more than enough for one night. You should rest. Tomorrow’s Monday, and we both need to be at our best.”

“Why?”

“In case something happens.” Veronica walked to the fence and opened the gate. “Monsters won’t wait until our schedules are free to start threatening people. We’ve got to be ready for anything.”

With that, she left, and Chandler huffed.

She didn’t want to _do_ this. The only reason she was even going through with this training was because her mother told her that neither of their families were strong enough to protect Sherwood on their own. She _had_ to do this, and she absolutely hated that fact.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you think! I love hearing from everyone! If you like, you can also send me an ask at shanes-scribbles on tumblr!


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